Forget the World Cup or the Champions League final; transfer deadline day is the most magical event on the football calendar. Here's a look back to another unforgettable day twenty-four hours with Jim White.
Storified by Thomas Macaulay ·
Wed, Feb 03 2016 01:34:06
The night before the chaos begins, most of us are too excited too sleep. But one man can't afford to let nerves disturb his rest. That man is transfer deadline day overlord and Sky Sports presenter Jim White.
White dreams the same dream every night. But tomorrow is the only day on which that dream will come true.
If you've just arrived to planet earth, welcome, and allow me to explain the workings behind one of the globe's defining events.
British football clubs are prohibited from buying or selling any new players during the entire season, with one exception: the month of January. Transfer deadline day, also known as January 31st, is the last day on which any business can be done between clubs.
Hundreds of millions of pounds exchange hands as agents drive deals to provide players with new badges to kiss. All of this, of course, is merely incidental to the day's true focus: the work of Jim White and his Sky Sports minions. This is how he works:
The Guardian's Barney Ronay has scribed the definitive biography of White. There is no better man to provide an insight into the workings of one of the great minds of the 21st century.
Ronay is a fine historian, but he neglects to mention one of White's most celebrated achievements: inventing the yellow tie that has come to symbolise all that is true and pure about transfer deadline day.
Yellow is the colour of sunflowers and daffodils, of hope and of happiness. But this most bright of colours has a darker side too: it is also the colour of jaundice. It's this contrast that inspired White to first adopt it as the day’s colour of choice. It's only once White has been seen with a yellow tie around his neck that the day can finally begun.
Its place in football folklore has been recognised with a spot in the national football museum following a campaign by Giles Smith of The Times. It's has become the must-have fashion accessory for trendsetters worldwide.
The tie remains safely folded away in storage for now, but the man who will wear it s now in the house.
Not all of Jim's fellow Sky Sports presenters begin the day with such swagger. Their thoughts are full of fears, fueled by the painful memories of years gone by.